Give Me the Silent Splendid Sun
by zeppx
Summary: It's Dean's birthday, Cas has a little surprise for him.


So, it's apparent I can't write anything other than this fluffy, plotless stuff. Even though I'm not complaining and I'm not getting any complaints.

Anyway.

This is kind of how I spent my Christmas Day. But there was booze involved, and no water fights or gorgeous angels undressing for me...sigh. Anyway, this is what happened while I was sitting on the beach in New Zealand watching the waves and having one to many drinks. There may also be something said that really needs to be said in some form on the show already...you'll know it when you see it. Enjoy!

* * *

It was Dean's birthday and he planned on doing a whole heap of nothing for the day, he had a bottle of Jack, a pack of beer and a bag of chips. The hotel had a decent set of channels to surf and the bed wasn't to horrible. Sam for once agreed that a break would be nice and the fact that this break took place on Dean's birthday was just a bonus. Dean didn't care, he was settled on the bed, everything spread around him and the remote in reach, Sam was seated at the kitchenette table with his laptop and headphones plugged in, he too was set to go.

Someone though, had apparently failed on alerting Castiel to this plan.

The angel had popped in in the middle of the room, looked over at Sam then to Dean and said, "It's your birthday," in the same tone of voice he'd used to announce he was going to find God. Dean could only stare at Cas, in between the time he'd last seen Cas and today the angel had changed out of his tax accountant get up.

The trenchcoat, suit jacket and white shirt had been replaced with a black t-shirt that hugged his lean frame in all the right places. The suit pants had been replaced with khaki cargo shorts that fell to his knees and oh the places Dean could wrap those long, toned legs-

"Dean?"

"Huh? What?" Snapped out of his fantasy Dean looked at Sam, then back to Cas and asked, "What are you _wearing_?" Cas looked down at himself, taking in the shirt, shorts and _tennis shoes_ with a slight frown before saying, "You two may want to dress similarly."

"I don't do shorts." Was what Dean responded with while Sam had asked, "Why?" Not bothered by the simultaneous questions he said to Dean, "You may want to."

"Why?" Sam asked again.

"It's Dean's birthday."

"I'm aware of this fact. I'm also aware that that makes it late January, we're in Michigan and it's freakin' snowing outside! Why do I want to wear shorts?" Cas let out an impatient sigh, then the little shit _rolled_ his _eyes_ and said, "It's a surprise." Sam and Dean exchanged looks, sighed and went about changing their clothes.

"So much for not doing anything today." Dean grumbled, not really changing out of anything since he didn't do shorts. Sam had somehow managed to find an older pair of his shorts hiding in his bag and when he had finished changing came stood by Dean.

"Now what?" Cas looked at Dean's jeans and shirt, shook his head and approached, raising his hands in the way that told Dean he was about to ride on Angel Air. He opened his mouth to complain, but found he was to late because they were somewhere else already. Somewhere that was warm and sunny, the sky a bright blue above him and the ocean an equally bright blue to his left.

Wait, _ocean_?

The brothers blinked and then looked to Cas who smiled at them and simply said, "Welcome to New Zealand."

They gaped at him.

"You brought me to New Zealand on my birthday?"

"Yes." Sam shot Dean a look that clearly said _Get over your big gay freakout and marry the damn angel already!_ Dean glared at him, returned his attention to Cas and asked, "Why New Zealand?"

"It's summer here, they speak English which I thought you would appreciate, it's also quite beautiful in it's own quiet way." The three of them turned and looked out over the water as he said it and Dean couldn't help but agree. The beach itself was a little rocky, the sand gray instead of a pretty golden brown color, but the water really made up for it. The water was a bright aqua color, the waves small and nearly nonexistent, Dean could only guess the water was nice and warm too.

"This is great Cas, thanks." And Dean actually meant it, this was far better than sitting around in a motel room in the middle of Nowheresville, Michigan. Hell he was in fucking _New Zealand_. That was a whole other country, and one that wasn't even close to the United States to which he had never been out of, and he hadn't even had to fly!

"So uh, why did you dress up differently for this?"

"I...wanted to be comfortable?" Cas sounded pretty unsure of himself and both Sam and Dean picked up on it and turned to look at him, both with big smiles on their faces.

"Thought you didn't feel uncomfortable in your clothes Cas."

"I don't. But, you're always saying just looking at me makes you feel uncomfortable, and today I want you to be comfortable. This is your birthday Dean, you're supposed to be relaxed and enjoy yourself." Dean blinked at him, Sam shot his brother a smug look, one that was dangerously close to saying _Seriously, marry him and have lots of magical gay angel sex and have lots of little angel butt babies._

"Well, you uh...didn't do to bad." Dean could just feel the vagina growing between his legs. Cas looked down at himself, then back up to Dean, and was that a blush on the angel's cheeks as he muttered, "Thank you."?

"So, now what?"

"If you prefer to eat first there is a small town further up the road with a nice restaurant that serves very good food."

"Or we stay here for the day and eat later?"

"Yes."

"Sounds fine to me, I wouldn't mind enjoying the sun for awhile." Cas nodded and disappeared, Dean blinked, looked around and growled, "Son of a _bitch_, I hate when he does that!"

"Seriously Dean, you need to quit making googly eyes and just-" And Cas was back. Dean glared at Sam, knowing exactly what his brother was going to say and said to Cas instead, "Where did you go?" Cas held up a bag, "To get this."

"Uh huh." Cas gave him a look, opened his mysterious bag and dug around in it for a minute then pulled out a bottle of sunscreen and tossed it to Sam, "You'll need that down here, we're below the equator so you'll burn easier."

"Well aren't you the responsible adult." Cas just blinked at Dean, the sarcasm obviously lost on him. Sam was already ahead of the program, stripping out of his shirt and shorts, down to just his boxers, slathering on the sunscreen as he headed for the water. Dean sighed and followed suit, stripping down to his boxers and running after Sam shouting, "Don't forget to do your back Gigantor!"

Shortly after the two of them were racing into the water, Dean tackling Sam when the water was deep enough, Cas sitting up on the sand watching the two of them horse around with a small smile on his face.

"Dude, this is _amazing_." Sam said later, when the two of them were floating on their backs in the blue, blue water.

"It is."

"You should get Cas in here."

"What?"

"Cas, he looks a little lonely up there." Sam gestured towards the beach where Cas was still sitting, he was staring up at the clear sky, the small smile still on his face. Dean sighed and headed in for the beach.

"Hey, Cas." Cas turned his gaze from the sky back to Earth and to Dean.

"Hello, Dean."

"Why don't you come out into the water with us. It'll be fun I promise. We can gang up on Sam and beat his ass in a water fight." Cas glanced to the water then to Dean and said, "I'm fine where I am Dean."

"Dude come on, come out and have some fun for once." Another hesitation.

"Scared of the water?"

"I'm not scared of the water, Dean."

"Then get in there!" Cas looked to the ocean and fidgeted a little, then back to Dean and said again, "I'm fine here."

"Cas seriously. Do you not know how to swim or something? I'll teach you, it's not hard."

"I know how to swim Dean."

"So what, don't want to get your feathers wet?" Cas gave him a look that probably would have turned Dean into a pile of ash had it been possible.

"Okay, so what's the issue then?" Cas sighed, stretched his legs out in front him and leaned back on his hands and said, "I don't want to intrude."

"On what?"

"You're spending time with Sam, the two of you are reconnecting and bonding again. I didn't want to intrude on the time you're spending with your brother. You two don't get enough of that as it is." Dean stared at Cas, sighed and shook his head.

"Cas you're a part of our family too you know. You deserve a break just as much as we do, hell you deserve it more, you do twice as much as me and Sam do. This is the first time I've seen you even _stop_ dude."

"Dean-"

"No, just listen for a minute." Cas nodded and shut up, sitting up straight and looking at Dean with eyes that matched the color of the sky.

"You've given up a lot, hell, everything to help us. I know we don't thank you for it and I know we should. We push you to hard and expect to much but you always come through for us when we need you. You've helped us more than any of us could hope for, so you deserve a break too. With us, cause you're a part of my family now Cas and you know I take care of my family. So you take a break, you get out there and you have fun with me and Sam and when we get back we'll go spend some time with Bobby. We all deserve a little break even though I know we can barely afford the time, okay?"

"Dean-"

"Please, Cas. If you don't take a break you're gonna burn out. And...and I really can't lose you Cas, not after everything we've all been through." Cas was silent beside him, simply staring at him and Dean not knowing what else to say added, "I really can't lose you Cas." Cas reached over, placed his hand on Dean's knee and whispered, "Okay, Dean."

Dean hesitated before putting his hand over Cas', "Thanks Cas. For everything. Especially today." Cas nodded, stood and said, "Well, lets get my feathers wet then." Dean smiled and stood, watching as Cas stripped out of his shirt and oh all the smooth, pale skin Dean could just-no. He was certainly not going to go there while standing on the beach in a foreign country standing in nothing but wet boxer shorts.

Cas looked at Dean over his shoulder and headed towards the water asking, "Well are you coming?" Dean smiled and stood, walking after Cas towards the ocean where Sam was waiting for them with a big smile on his face. Before they could get to him though Dean grabbed Cas' shoulder and asked, "Did we just have a freakin' moment?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Not a word to Sam." Cas smiled and nodded, then in a moment of showing off his angelic strength, grabbed Dean around his waist and tossed Dean off into deeper water. When he resurfaced Sam was laughing hysterically and Cas was standing waist deep in water, shooting Dean one of those rare smiles of his.

"Asshole, I hate you." Sam finished his laughing, then shot Dean a mischievous grin, grabbed Cas around the waist, Cas giving a surprised 'oof' and then Sam tossed him off into the water much like Cas had done to Dean. When Cas surfaced his hair was plastered down on his head and he looked suspiciously like a drowned cat, but he had a smile on his face and a certain glint in his eyes.

The two brothers learned that day that if you entered into a water fight with an angel you better be prepared to have your ass handed to you.


End file.
